Rogers Canada announces Nokia Lumia 920 as an exclusive for November

The good news is Nokia is finally getting some details out about its highly touted Lumia 920, specifically carrier deals. The bad news is they are couched in exclusivity deals (we’ll have more on that shortly).

Such is the case with Rogers in Canada who have announced that the Lumia 920 will be coming to the carrier with 4G LTE in November.

From their press release:

"Rogers is proud to bring the new Nokia Lumia 920 to our customers looking for the best unified experience and to further extend our leadership as the carrier with the largest LTE superphone selection in Canada," said John Boynton, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Communications. "With seamless access to entertainment, sports and business content, the Nokia Lumia 920 offers customers a world leading internet experience powered by the Rogers LTE network."

Sounds like a good deal for those on Rogers but not so great if you’re on Bell or Telus who are not expected to carry that particular model number—at least not on launch. Once again, consumers will have to chose which carrier they want to be a part of and that’s never a good way to get the phone into most people’s hands.

Rogers Canada announces Nokia Lumia 920 as an exclusive for November

Disappointing to say the least, and only in black? I know there's still a massive lack of information, but can anyone suggest any options for someone who would like to use this phone on the Bell network with a little bit of colour? I know it means buying it outright but if that's what it comes down to then so be it.

you're only option would be as follows: buy one outright, and then unlock it, and put in a bell sim. that's your ONLY choice. Bell has already confirmed they're not getting the 920. sucks, cause rogers is OMG HORRIBLE and i wanted the 920. i know 3 other guys who were going to buy it, now they're not. Nokia is the stupid with this.

Unlocking a Lumia is very easy. Possibly easier than a BlackBerry. The tough part is finding someone with the code - its not impossible - and the fact that you pay more for a code than a standard Nokia or BlackBerry code.

Yeah but the Nokia Canada site also says it only has 1000MB of internal memory...I wouldn't speculate too much until the actual launch. That really blows that only Rogers is getting it though. I don't even get service in 9/10 of the goddamn province.

My wife and I, and no doubt other Windows Phones fans, are very disappointed that Nokia has chosen to make Rogers the exclusive Canadian carrier for the upcoming Nokia Lumia 920. With contracts in Canada being three years long, the odds are low that a lot of people are going to pay a penalty to switch carriers just for this phone. It looks like it will be a great phone, but it's not a "must have at all costs" device for people who don't know this OS. Windows Phone is still trying to gain traction in Canada as well as most other countries and I think it would be better for the top model (the 920) to be affordable and available to anyone in Canada who is interested. If that were the case, it would put a truly impressive Windows Phone into more people's hands and build a much healthier environment for Nokia and Windows Phones in general.

A few desperate fans may buy and unlock them for use with their own carriers, but the average smartphone customer is NOT going to seek out this phone. The average customer needs to see this phone and its amazing camera alongside the Androids and iPhones when they go shopping to upgrade. As history has shown, the Windows Phone OS alone is not enough to cause people familiar with Android or IOS to switch, but the Lumia 920 camera is a very easy thing to demonstrate and THAT may be enough. Most people don't really understand in the store exactly how a phone OS is going to affect them, but a beautiful, low-light, stabilized photo is pretty straightforward.

Where are you getting the "No 820 in Canada" info from? Or is it a wilde guess just because it hasn't been announced at the exact same time as Rogers getting the 920?
T-Mobile is getting the 820, and therefore Wind and Mobilicity will probably get it as well (maybe not at launch, but a little after).
Bell isn't getting any Nokias, but that's just one (shortsighted) company.
Telus will probably get the 820 at launch, but that's just a guess on my part.
I hope Nokia now sees HTC and the MS Surface as a threat, and will become more aggressive with their Lumias, both in price and in getting them to as many carriers as possible.
The good news is that with Rogers getting the 920 exclusive, they will HOPEFULLY promote the heck out of it, which will be good for the WP ecosystem overall.

My guess is that although there are carrier exclusive partnerships, they will still be selling the phone unlocked to use on your choice of carrier. After all, the 920 carries the right frequency bands to be used on Verizon (including LTE), T-Mobile (including HSPA+), AT&T (including LTE) and Sprint. Buy the 920 unlocked, and use it on any provider, maychance?

Seriously...
I wonder which corporate knuckle head decide this was a good idea and that too after realizing that there was demand for a cyan 900 and releasing it.
They have made the same mistake twice now and I'm afraid I'll be holding on to my upgrade which is a pity, since I was really looking forward to owning this phone.
Nokia is to blame for this too, by the way. They are putting their flagship device in jeapordy by allowing a company like Rogers to dictate terms.

I researched how things went for people who unlocked the Lumia 900 from Rogers for use on other carriers. There are many unhappy stories from customers who found that they couldn't get things like MMS and internet tethering to work because Nokia didn't release their Network Setup app in Canada.
That's no way to market a phone. You've got to be a real fanboy to go to that kind of trouble and expense and put up with limitations on what the phone can do. They won't attract new users to this phone this way.

Well folks I can officially confirm that it is the same story with the Nokia Lumia 920 under Rogers as it was with the Nokia 900. That is to say, with a carrier othen than Rogers, MMS and Internet Tethering DO NOT WORK. The Rogers store was kind enough to let me test a Nokia Lumia 920 with my TELUS sim card today. I can confirm that the Nokia 920 is UNLOCKED. I was able to make a call immediately without issue. As for internet access. The correct APN settings for Telus as well as the proxy IP are required to obtain internet access. A restart of the phone was required after the settings were entered.

Now for the BAD: Like the Nokia 900 from Rogers, Internet Tethering DOES NOT WORK!!! A message pops on the screen saying no cellular data is available.
MMS: Like the Nokia 900, it does not work. I have entered the exact same settings that work on Unlocked iPhones and Androids without issue, but NOT on the Lumia 920.

Because of these 2 major issues, at least in my book. I walked out of the Rogers store without buying the unit.

I hope this is helpful to anyone dreaming of owning this phone on a carrier other than Rogers.

Wow these exclusive deals are bad for Nokia. If we look at Canada, there are 3 major carries with customers locked into 3 year contracts, and almost ever Canadian is pissed off at least 2 major carries at a time so they have just limited their potential customer base to fraction of what they could achieve.

Other than att with the iPhone has there ever been another exclusive deal that has worked?

I'm hoping thats just a lack of colour availability announcement and not Rogers only getting black...I'd take anything other than a black or white at this point. If not, I hope they at least get more colours later like they did with the 900..

Edit: seems another site had nokia confirm we are getting black only...

If they make an exclusivity deal with EE in the UK then they've lost my support completely. I don't wan the 8X due to the pathetic storage option, but i might be left with no choice. That or fork out £500 to get it sim free.

hmm, well happy that I won't have to mess with network settings to get it to work. But going to buy it outright anyhow (sell my 900). But if no other colors in Canada I may have to buy it outright from AT&T then mess with the network settings:( we shall see what options they have as it get's closer.

Black is best. The device needs the dark colour to appear not fat. Trust me, it will sell better in Canada just black. If the average consumer sees how HUGE it looks in white, it will bomb to all but the technology geeks like us.

What I don't get is why was Telus snubbed on this? They seemed to market the Lumia 800 much better than Robbers did with the Lumia 900. Telus even included a nice case with the Lumia 800. While Rogers will probably take out the ear buds like they did with the One X, those bastards.........

Is it only in black or black at launch? I switched to Telus for a windows phone, then to Rogers for the lumia 900. So far I'm happier with Rogers and their 4G LTE and my Lumia. Sucks for other carriers and people, but they gotta expand their networks and make the deals then.

Well to be honest I was deciding between with and black and white so just having confirmation that its coming to Rogers is good. I personally think black is a beautiful color on this phone so im happy. Now to just see it vs the black 8x in store

Nothing wrong with the black one but some of us want the option of choosing different colours. I waited almost two months to get my 900 from Rogers because I wanted the cyan,after I bought it the following month they then announced the cyan. They better have all the colours on launch day. Hopefully they have the red because it's their brand colour and that's the one I'm want this time around
:-/

Im definatley not getting black this time around. And if it's going to be in black im very disappointed. This is BS. Rogers is probably gonna just spit this phone out like they did with the 900 with no advertising and plastic models in store

Screw Nokia! I guess HTC is the Windows Phone afterall. It looks like another OEM is more interested in the health of the Windows Phone platform. Nokia only cares about themselves. At least I will not feel sorry for them if their company fails because it will be their suicide.

Ugh carrier exclusives suck. I've already switched carriers this year for Nokia, I don't plan on doing it again. Telus really needs to pick up the 920 or a variant of it. Telus was the company that was all in Nokia not Rogers so this move perplexes me. Telus had all three colours of the L800 and Rogers only had something different than Black after a few months. This makes so little sense. It should be on all carriers to get the deepest penetration into the market. Guess I'm going to have to buy this one unlocked and off contract.

I don't have an understanding on how these deals are made but I know this is not how you win people over. Build it and push it as hard as you can. This exclusive carrier crap is just that, crap. Oh well. If the popularity suffers, this is why.

The carrier needs to push the phone hard, or more specifically, its frontline sales force.
Up until now Nokia has pushed the Lumia series hard..... and worldwide sales aren't that much. How many people do you know that use a Windows Phone? I'm the only one out of my friends that bought one to use as his main phone.
With exclusivity Rogers will HOPEFULLY push this phone..... hopefully......

There are some big advantages with Rogers have an exclusive on a high-end phone.
And no, I'm not a Rogers fanboy, or even a Rogers customer.
With exclusivity, Rogers will HOPEFULLY promote the heck out of the Nokia 920. Also, and more importantly, Rogers will HOPEFULLY encourage their staff to push the Nokia 920. The majority of customers (at least the ones that don't read sites like this one) buy whatever cellphone the rep at the store tells them to buy. And then if you come in asking for a specific phone, the rep will try and redirect you to the phone that he/she wants to sell (or is told to sell).
Most cellphone purchasers are sheep and will either be clueless of what phone they want (but they know they want a phone) or will want "the phone my friend has".
In order for Windows Phones to make a dent in the iPhone and/or Android wall, you need a provider and their salesforce to push the heck out of a phone in order to get it into the mindset of the general population. Once they try a Windows Phone they AND THEIR FRIENDS will see that there is nothing to be scared of in trying something new (ie non-iPhone or non-Android) and that Windows Phone can be a comfortable choice.
Yes, some people who don't want to be on Rogers will not buy a 920 (me included). But Nokia will hopefully gain a fair number of new clients that would never have considered a Windows Phone, and that will increase the WP marketshare overall.
But that all depends on how hard and how long Rogers pushes the 920, and how hard Nokia will encourage Rogers to do so.

Wasn't there a new bill passed in Canada where the carrier cannot lock you into 3 years. To get out of your contract now you only have to pay the remainder of what you owe on your cell phone and like a 30 dollar fee. Ots not as big a deal as you think. I switched from telus to Rogers for the lumia 900 and I owed 300 on my HTC surround and that's all I ended up paying telus. Plus the cancellation fee which is 30 bucks. Obviously the carrier won't tell you this but seriously no joke you don't have to pay for your remaining months on your contract anymore. Look onto it seriously.

I remember hearing something to this effect. The problem for some people is that a switch might mean they get the phone they want but may not be able to use it where they are. As an example I used to go back and forth from Toronto to Oshawa via GoTrain and there were pockets along that 45 min route where service would completely drop out. To make matters worse when I got home if I wanted to continue to use my phone I would have to stand at the end of my 20' driveway, not even hanging out the second floor window would I find signal.

I've cancelled my Rogers contract before to go to Bell and it was $20 a month times the number of months remaining to a maximum of $400 ($300? can't remember) PLUS a data cancelation charge which I believe was flat rate at $200. I was planning to cancel my Bell and go back to Rogers to get the 920 but if it's only available in black I may reconsider now. My wife was planning on cancelling her Telus to move from a Blackberry to the 920 also, but again since only black she now has reconsidered. I guess our hopes now remain on the MS Store opening up in Yorkdale.

R0bR, with Rogers, it used to be $20 per month remaining in your term to a maximum of $400, and $5 per month to a maximum of $100 for data. Total potential cancellation of $500. NOW, it's a 1-time deactivation fee of $12.50 PLUS(+) what you saved off of your device (with the three year term), MINUS (-) the length of time you had the device in service.....should you decide to cancel within the next three years.

Does anyone if buying an 920 from ATT will work on FIDO/Rogers?... I did this with samsung focus and eventhough I had some issues with MMS in the end it worked fine. I know they are using the same GSM bands but could potentially be any issues with LTE?
If this an issue..being on FIDO, i think ultimatelly will have to buy it from ebay fully unlocked, as I dont see it being available on US/CAD store at a decent price.

Well, as a Rogers customer, and an L900 owner, I am glad they have confirmed the 920 availability. I tend to agree though that limiting it to the black phone on launch is disappointing. I suppose they will introduce other colors some months later, as they did with cyan on the 900. Doesn't really make too much difference to me for the time being, as I am locked into a contract with my 900. At this point I think I will wait for, and hopefully be satisfied with, the 7.8 update for this phone. I'll just probably wait for the 2nd generation windows 8 phones, and see what Nokia, HTC, Samsung, et al, come up with. The reality is though, if I get a 920 in my hands and "fall in love", all bets might be off! lol. Ain't technology great! :-)

I seriously hope that other colours come out soon after the launch. There is no way im getting the black one this time around. Im hoping that the Microsoft store might have different color options. Please Microsoft!!!!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved with Rogers announcement to carry the 920. Considering the insignificance of the Canadian market in the bigger picture, it's a relief to see the phone available in a timely fashion. It's disappointing to hear Nokia confirm that there will only be a black one from Rogers at launch but its better then not having one at all.
Speaking to the exclusivity of the phone and people not wanting to switch for whatever reason, practically all promotional plans on all providers are priced equally here. Obviously, people with grandfathered plans don't want to lose the savings they have through these plans but I don't really know of any grandfathered plans worth keeping that provide LTE data to begin with. So in the bigger picture, you're eventually going to have to get with the program and come to terms with one of the big 3 and buy into an LTE plan. I gave up my country Fido plan last year so I could get the 900. I can't say much for service on all providers around the country but I haven't had any sort of unbearable issue with Rogers regarding their service. Yes, they're a bunch of clowns when it comes to customer service and overall customer satisfaction but at least we get the phone.
After reading some of Daniel's other posts on the various other articles covering the 920, I have to say I agree that there is a reason Nokia went with carrier exclusives. The amount of cash they burned in promoting and marketing the 800 was nowhere worth the sales they received on the flip side. At least with the 900, att helped in promoting and marketing the phone. Rogers on the other hand did nothing but we addressed their stupidity above which more then answers for why they do what they do.
I guess the important thing to mention is this phone is going to be a disruptive force in the smartphone market. If it doesn't sell well, so be it. But the technology they've introduced is going to be setting the standard for years to come and on that note alone, I'd want to be one to support that innovation so Nokia can at least continue to provide newer better products in the market for a few more years!
A lot of us have wanted this phone since the day it was announced. Obviously for different reasons. But, I'm sure we ca agree one of those reasons was because of the level of innovation they introduced. That hasn't changed and I'd be hard pressed to think that a lot of us who wanted this phone are now going to spend money on a substitute that doesn't give us half the benefits that made this one so special.
Alas, that is my rant. I've been raging all morning but I've come to terms with it and I can now happily say, "Shut up and Take My Money"

Its great news. But if rumors of rogers getting only black color comes true , then i would hate Rogers so much without doubt and i am not going to buy it. Moreover why would ROGERS take such a retarded decision not to offer other lumia colors to CANADA. I mean come on would they be able to give any good reason to do so? I am pretty much sure getting only black color is very disappointing and disgusting move.

Yeah very stupid that there is an exclusive for Rogers and very stupid that it's only in black. I'm on Wind and this really sucks. I would never give up my plan for a phone. I'm only hoping that the 920 is a true pentaband phone with AWS frequency built in.

It's bad enough that this will be a Rogers exclusive, but black only? What about the colors, what about buying one of these unbranded so you can take it to any carrier? Guess there is still the HTC and Samsung ATIV, otherwise I will just upgrade from the iPhone 4 to 5 for $179 on Fido.

Well folks I can officially confirm that it is the same story with the Nokia Lumia 920 under Rogers as it was with the Nokia 900. That is to say, with a carrier other than Rogers, MMS and Internet Tethering DO NOT WORK. The Rogers store was kind enough to let me test a Nokia Lumia 920 with my TELUS sim card today. I can confirm that the Nokia 920 is UNLOCKED. I was able to make a call immediately without issue. As for internet access. The correct APN settings for Telus as well as the proxy IP are required to obtain internet access. A restart of the phone was required after the settings were entered.

Now for the BAD: Like the Nokia 900 from Rogers, Internet Tethering DOES NOT WORK!!! A message pops on the screen saying no cellular data is available.
MMS: Like the Nokia 900, it does not work. I have entered the exact same settings that work on Unlocked iPhones and Androids without issue, but NOT on the Lumia 920.

Because of these 2 major issues, at least in my book. I walked out of the Rogers store without buying the unit. I am quite sure this will also be an issue on other carriers except Rogers.

I hope this is helpful to anyone dreaming of owning this phone on a carrier other than Rogers. If there is an international Pentaband version released later, I will perhaps give it another go. Otherwise, it will be the HTC 8X or the Samsung ATIV S for me.